Picture #16
“One of these things is not like the others.”
I can’t hear that phrase without a song playing in my head (and hanging out for a bit) that was first put there by Sesame Street in my very early years.
These days at Heritage, you can’t walk down the hallway toward the church parlor without that phrase, or song, coming to mind. You may have seen the photos on the wall of all of the pastors that have been appointed by our bishops at Heritage since it was first planted in 1976. If you start at the parlor and walk toward the staff offices, you’ll pass them in chronological order.
Bert Blomquist, 1976-1981
Jim Maxfield, 1981-1985
Floy Ekin, 1983-1993
Richard Nussel, 1985-1988
Bob Breuer, 1985-1988
David Landers, 1988-2011
Curtis Collier, 1991-1995
David Davis, 1998-2007
Steve Ezra, 2003-2008
Donald Jones, 2008-2015
Brandon Wise, 2008-2010
Josh Bell, 2011-2014
Charles Engelhardt, 2011-2017
Dan Johnson, 2017-2018
The current guy
Then you come to the most recently added face on the wall. When you do, that phrase—and maybe even the song—comes to mind. One of these things is not like the others.
Why is This One So Different?
This picture is not like the others because of a 2000-year misunderstanding of two passages attributed to Paul that are preserved in the Bible. The first is 1Corinthians 14:34-35, and the second is 1Timothy 2:12.
Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. (1Corinthians 14:34-35)
I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man, she must be quiet. (1Timothy 2:12)
1Corinthians 14:34-35 actually began as what’s known as a “marginal gloss,” which is a note in the margin added later on. It was then mistakenly copied into the text by subsequent scribes. In some manuscripts it appears as verses 34-35, and in others it appears after verse 40, revealing that there wasn’t even clarity about where it should go when it was copied in.
1Timothy 2:12 comes from a letter treasured as Christian Scripture, but that is widely believed to not even have been written by Paul in the first place. It has vocabulary, sentence structure, and even some theology considerably different than those letters confidently ascribed to him. It is more a match to other writings from the early second century. 1Timothy wasn’t even included in early lists of Paul’s letters until Iraneus referenced it in 180 C.E.
The writing of these passages occurred at a time when early Christians were trying to make inroads with Jewish audiences in whose synagogues women were not allowed to teach or speak in the years following Paul’s ministry. In this context, it makes sense that they would have made efforts to navigate differences of opinion on this issue at that time. However, this is inconsistent with other writing known to be Paul’s in which women lead and speak in congregational worship (e.g, Rom. 16:1-2, 3-4, 7; Gal. 3:27-28; Phil, 4:2-3; Acts 5:1-11; Acts 18:8-28).
Unfortunately, throughout the centuries these two passages were given more authority than the many writings of Paul that contradict them; and even more unfortunately, are still given more authority today in denominations and cultures around the world, as well as some right here in Clearwater, Florida.
Finally Getting it Right
While Jesus and Paul both equipped women for leadership roles, most of the church was slow to come around. In 1761, John Wesley was moved by the story of—and arguments for—making Sarah Crosby the first Methodist woman to be licensed to preach, and he did so. Thanks be to God women are licensed to preach in the United Methodist Church, because they’ve been missing from our church pulpits, and from our hallway wall, until now.
The 16th picture on the wall is of Rev. Janean Briseno, the first woman appointed as a pastor at Heritage United Methodist.
One of our acolytes looks up at the first woman appointed as a pastor at Heritage United Methodist, Rev. Janean Briseno, as she helps her celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion for the first time.
I have known Janean for almost five years now, and it’s clear to me—and everyone who meets her—that she is not motivated by being a pioneer. She did not set out on the journey for her own licensing as a way to break a barrier or champion the cause of having more women in leadership roles. She would affirm and support those who are called to that effort, and is grateful for the efforts of those women who paved the way and sought such a license when it was even more rare than it is today.
Janean is motivated by seeing more people enjoy friendship with Jesus. She did not attend Vacation Bible School or Sunday school growing up—establishing that friendship in her high school and college years. She remembers life without it, rejoices all the more in that friendship now, and is eager for others to have it and rejoice in it as well.
So if becoming the first woman to be appointed as a pastor at Heritage was a ceiling limiting her opportunities to preach and teach people about life as a friend of Jesus Christ, she was more than happy to crash through it.
On this International Women’s Day, the members and friends of Heritage United Methodist are more than happy she crashed through it too. —MH
